More integration, less publicity

Angela Kocze, 40, is one of Hungary’s most accredited Roma rights advocates. She is the former director of the human rights education programme at the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC). Today she answers our questions about the Roma crackdown ordered by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

How do you see Sarkozy’s move to send Roma immigrants living in France illegally back to their countries of origin?

I think it is a shame for the whole of Europe. It is just the tip of the iceberg of a very complex struggle faced by Roma people across Europe. I think the European Union, the European Council and the European governments should think carefully about how they will deal with these issues in the future, the risk is that new and bigger problems will emerge.

Is it true that other European governments have similar, if less publicized, expulsion policies?

Yes, absolutely. Sarkozy does it openly, because he looking for support from the right wing. The problem is that his actions legitimize all other European governments that want to use such policies against the Roma. If the European Union is going to allow this to happen with no repercussions then other governments are likely to follow suit, this time more openly.

Under European law, European citizens are granted the right to free movement within the Union but under French national law citizens of new European countries – like Romania and Bulgaria, home to the majority of Roma – need proof of legal employment to stay longer than three months. Do you think the restrictions are justified?

In theory there is the right to move from one country to another inside the EU but in practice there are restrictions to certain people, like the Roma, who are often considered, and treated like, second-class citizens. The existence of a legal framework doesn’t necessarily mean that it is right, or legitimate.

Why is there still so much prejudice against the Roma?

At the moment, everywhere in Europe there is a lot of racism against non white immigrants. Non white immigrants tend to be more exposed to racism because they are more visible, more identifiable as different.

Are there any solutions? What should the French government be doing?

For Roma who are in France legally, integration policies should be implemented at a local level, by the local government. Those who have to return to their countries of origin, because they are in France illegally, should be guaranteed integration policies from the Romanian government which should help them have access to education, employment and housing. Without integration policies and projects nothing is going to change and these people will always be in the same vicious circle. They won’t emerge from it alone.

 

Find out more:

Deyan Kolev of the Centre for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance – Amalipe answers our questions about the recent Roma expulsions to Bulgaria. Read more… 

Nicoleta Bitu of Romani CRISS based in Romania answers our questions about the Roma crackdown ordered by French President Sarkozy. Read more…